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Evil Environmentally-Friendly Search Engine

Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. The issue of global warming and other environmental problem have triggered a feeling in us that we have to use environmentally-friendly product in everything we do. Well, I support that idea, but does it mean that we also have to use an environmentally-friendly search engine too at the same time. I really do not know whether we really need to have that one, but some folks out there have started to make what they call as the 'environmentally-friendly' search engine, but it turns out to be a very evil attempt to get money. Here are some examples:

Blackle.Com [Alexa Rank: 3,087] - They say, "Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen."

BioGoogle.Net [Alexa Rank: 3,319,254] - They say, "Bio Google is an Eco imitation of "Google". Bio Google uses a Google search but every search is 100% Eco friendly! (Meaning we buy carbon credits to balance our power consumption with the use of the site.) As earth temperatures are rising we persist to find greener alternatives for all products and services, as we are the ones responsible for this terrible disaster. We appreciate if you could share our site with many members of your family or some of your loyal friends. Our search engine will strive its best to find quality facts about biology and ecology. We can't do this without you! So please suggest sites that have quality content. We would love it if you can link to Bio Google."

KeepGlobe.Com [Alexa Rank: 6,242,455]- They say, "Why KeepGlobe? 50% of revenue is donated to a green cause. KeepGlobe is hosted on a green server, powered by sun and wind energy. We use Google search because Google is a green company."

Ecocho.Com [Alexa Rank: 1,354,258]- They say, "Ecocho is a new search engine trying to make a difference for climate change. For every 1000 searches users make on Ecocho we'll counter balance or "offset" a ton of greenhouse gases. We do this by sponsoring two trees via advertising on the site."

TheGreenSpider.Com [Alexa Rank: 3,550,730]- They say, "theGreenspider is a search engine that saves energy by using a coloured background. The search results are powered by Google"

GreenBackSearch.Com [Alexa Rank: 897,796]- The say, "Greenback Search is powered by Yahoo, so you'll get the same high quality results, but Greenback Search gives back to the environment by purchasing carbon offsets with the revenue it earns"

Why we should not trust them easily?It's because they don't use their own search engine. They all use custom search either by Google or by Yahoo, and they get money from it, if you clicked on the ads. Some people have furthermore call this service as evil strategy. Let's take a look on what other blogs say about this:

While this is all okay I pondered - the entire world is being fed propaganda supporting climate change so most people feel compelled to try and help in some way. For the most lazy of us, changing the colour of the Google page we visit is a small step that the email explained could have massive cumulative consequences.

So I'm not saying "don't use Blackle" because if what it claims is true then it's a good thing. But it's not an official Google site and your clicking could financially benefit the owner. Also bare in mind that the statistics it uses to support it's argument might not be accurate. Either way, I absolutely love the evil-ness behind Blackle (deliberate or otherwise) because of how it preys on two strong desires. Kudos to the owner. Kudos.

However in a recent development, Google has advised the company that it has breached Adsense policies and the internet giant has withdrawn its support. "Unfortunately,Google has decided to stop Ecocho from using its search technology," said Ecocho in a statement. "We've had phenomenal results over the first week and really hope that this can continue. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and hope to resolve this problem soon." Google Australia spokesman Rob Shilkin said the company had been barred because Google Adsense policies had been breached. The company does not allow publishers running Adsense to compensate internet users for viewing ads or performing searches, or promise compensation to a third party for such behaviour, Google said in a statement. "The site was in clear violation of our terms of service and we had previously warned the owner of past violations," Shilkin said. "We have now stopped serving ads and search results to the owner's sites."from: thetechherald.com

So, be really careful in this. The other sites I checked promised to give 50% of the revenue to green cause. Well, where does the other half go? To their pockets? Again and again. Be careful.

Alexa is one of the most prolific and robust search engines alongside the leader Google. Alexa apart from having a search engine also has a web information company tracking information about all the sites. Based in California, USA, this company is a subsidiary to the very famous Amazon.com. Alexa receives much of its usage from the US only. However, slowly but steadily Alexa is also being used for search engine. Although Alexa was founded back in the year 1996, Amazon.com bought it in the year 1999 for a whopping $250 million. In order to better its prospects over the net, Alexa partnered Google in the year 2002